Multiple-ball valve



F. .WITTENMEIER.

MULTIPLE BALL VALVE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3 1. 1919.

1-,401,223. Patented Dec.27, 1921.

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MULTIPLE-BALL VALVE.

ioness.

To all who-m it may concern I Be it known that l, FRED Wrrrnnarnrun,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Cliicago,in the county ofCool; and State ofmay be used with other types of mechanism' requiringvalves.

Une 01'? the objects or my invention is to provide a ball valve whichwill be efficient under all conditions of service including high speedservice and which will operate ei'lic'iently with a minimumloss or thefluid under compression, the clearances being reduced to a minimum. i ir A further object is to provide a ball valve so arranged as to preventthe balls from being inoperatively displaced with respect to theirseats, and also means for turning,- the balls to prevent theaccumulation o1 dirt and to prevent wear at any particular point of thesurface thereof.

A still further object isto provide a novel ball valve wherein the balls"are guided so as to seat properly when the valves are to be closed andwhich rise and tall simultaneously the return action being quick andsnappy, the gases or fluids at the same time being given unobstructedpassageways.

The above recited and other objects will be apparent by referring to thedrawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of thepreferred embodiment of my invention with only a part of the cylindershown.

2 is a horizontal, section on line 22 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the lll'Gglb' lar line 3-3 oitFig'. 1.I

V Fig. at is a sectional viewer a modified term oil? ball retainingring. 7

In the drawings, the upper enu oi? a cylinder; 5 is shown. This cylindermay be a compression cylinder in which is reciprocably mounted a piston(not shown). A cap 6 is secured over the end of the cylinder 5 by anysuitable fastening means (not Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March e1, 1919. Serial No. 286,291.

shown) passing through the flanges of the cylinder and cap, as is commonpractice. The novel ball valve of my invention in cludesa member '5'overlying the end of the cylinder and held in place thereon by thocap Thmember '2' has a plurality of ci cumterentially arranged apertures 8which torin the valve openings, the walls oi the upper ends of whichopenings serve as seats for ball valve n'ieinbers 9. Every one of theopenings 8 has a ball 9 cooperating therewith to serve as a closureunder normal conditions; integral with the member 7 and overlying theouter ends of the apertures 8 is shell member 10 havingcircumterentially arranged apertures 11 therethrough which areconcentric with the aper tures S but greater in diameter. Thedian1etersof the openings 11 are but slightly greater than the diametersof the balls 9 the purpose of the shelf member and the enlarged openings11 being; to serve as guide means for the balls 9 as the are moved underoperating condi'ions, the shelf memher acting to prevent the balls frombeing inoperatively displaced with respect to the seats so that onreturn or" the balls to the seats of the valves there will be no chanceot any oi"- the valves remaining open during the dew; or suction strokeof the piston. j'lfhe member has an upwardly projecting boss 12 with areduced thr aded end portion for purposes hereinafter explained.

rllidahly mounted on the boss 12 over the upper side of the shelf 10provide a ring 'l l having upturned inside and outside flanges l5 and16. Preferably the ring is provided with circular groove or undercutoffset portion 17 forming annular shoulder 18 which is arranged withrespect to the balls 9 so as to he engageo by the balls as the samemoved upwardly under pressure of the fluid in the cylinder 5. the ballsencounter the shoulder 18 they will'be turned slightly causing any dirtthereon to be rubbed err by frictional action and also causing differentparts of the ball to cover the apertures when the balls move into engageat with their seats upon return to valve '1; position. i this way thesurface ballsis mai .ined smooth torpreleaks therethrougrh. ln screw or.en; ment with. the reduced end l3 the boss i2 is a cap member 19 havingdownwardly extending annular sides .50 and 21, shown in the drawings.Surrounding the central boss member 12 and confined within the walls 15and 16 or" the 31111514 and the walls 20 and 2.1 of the cap member 19,are two coiled springs 27 and 28 having different diameters and arrangedat differ ent radial distancesfrom the boss 12. The capv 19 beingsecured in position by reason or" its threaded engagement with theend1d, the springs serve to maintain the ring member 1 1 against the uppersurface of thesheli 10 and may be adjusted to regulate the operation ofthe balls 9 to permit a fluid to flow through the apertures 8 asdifferent conditions warrant, the adjustment being accomplished byturning the cap 19 on its threaded support. The upwardly extending walls15 and 16 of the ball-retaining ring 1;}.- and the downwardly extendingwalls or sides 20 and 21 of the cap 19 serve to limit the movement ofthe ring or cap, the usual adjustment being such that the 14: isprevented frombe ng moved upwardly fat enough to permit escape of theballs 9 and at the same. time permitting. the balls, to functionresponsively to the kind of fluid and the amount of compression desired.The cap'member 19 has a series of apertures 22 in the sides thereof andanother series oi' apertures 23 in the upper ends thereof, through whichthe fluid may pass,'there also being spacebetween the niembers la and 19and the cap titer the passage of; a fluid- The cap member (3 has anopening 24 for the delivery of the, g see from the'compressortothesource of use. V

' Theoperation of the device is as follows: Under suction the parts arearranged as shown in 1. "On compression, that is, when the plston (notshown) 1s moving up,

wardly the pressure of the fluid within the pistonv will tend to raisethe balls 9 from engagement with their seats. Aslight raising. of theballs will permit escape of the fiui'd through the aperturestotheoutside of the cap and ring members. Further, the compression will forcethe balls against the bottom and side of the ring 14 and raise the sameagainst the action of the springs 27 and 28 permitting-a further openingof the valves. The upward movement of the ring it is limited byengagementbetween the annular flanges on the ring 14 and cap 19, thegreatest distance between said flanges lengthwise or the cylinder beingless than the radius of the balls 9 to prevent inoperativedisplacementot same. As before stated, when the balls encounter theshoulder 18, the balls are caused to rotateso that they are maintainedin clean condition and when returned to their valve seats a differentportion of the surface of the balls will be presented, thus reducingwear of the balls to a minimum. During all operative movements oftheballs they are retained in and guided by the guide apertures 11 inthe shelf member lQ permitting full opening of the valves and at thesame time being prevented from inoperative displacement by reason of thering l4; VVhen the valves are fully opened the fluid escapes in anunobstructed manner through the apertures 8 and that which passes upunder the cap 19 escapes through the openings 22 and 23, eventually allof the escaping fluid passing out from the cap member 6 through theopening at in the end of; said cap member 6. On reduction of pressure,the springs partially return the balls to reseating position, the finalclosing. of the valves being by gravity as will be observed in Fig. 1. i1 By my invention I have. provided aball valve wherein it is possibleto, control the ncr m nt f th balls to. prev isplacement ful y op e postion and to guide.

the same in all of their movements and cans:

hg ac urate re ati g of Same, the valve beng espe al y val able in h ghp ed Work I ha lso? pr v ded mea fo reducing the We r on. he ball y rtati gthe ame p11 nti g new sur ace to. the sea s from ime to time, theclosing of the valvesbeing effi- 12. and. a h ame timee learanc s are;reduced to min mum In. g hav s own. a. al et in n Ki gi h i und bahengagi g si e. flat i w ich form; the ball woul not. nee ssa j lybrotated as he hiabovev es r bed when a ring having the annular. shoulder18 is empl y d Wh le I ave escr more or less p e: cisely the details ofconstruction, I do not W h o be unde od as l mit j -g ys f th o, slcentemplate c anges f rm. a d he p oport n otrarts and t e su sti-.tution ofequivale nts as circumstances may ugg t or de xp di n W h ut.depar ng f om. the spir t seepef y i v ntion,

' y of v lve. or ingsthere h, a pl ra y b l or sing aid peni g a d m aor r tati g a d all asthe me remove from closing to open position.-

2. In a ball valve, the combination of a ea em r h ing a valve. pe ngthere,- through, a elt al e os g S i pen,- ing a guide adapted to directsaid ball valve into seating position in said opening, and a stop memberengagfld by" said ball valve to prevent the latter from being dislodgedfrom said guide member, said stop member comprising means for rotatingsaid ball valve as it is moved from closing to open position.

3. Ina

seat member having a plurality of openings ball valve the combinationtherethrough, a plurality of ball valves for closing. said openings, aguide formed integrally with said seat member and having openingstherethrough to guide the ball valves in their movements toward and awayfrom said seat member, a stop member surrounding a concentric reducedportion on said seat member to limit the movement of the ball valvesfrom said seat member, an annular cap member secured to the upper end ofsaid reduced portion of said seat member, springs interposed betweensaid stop member and cap member, and annular flanges on said stop memberand cap member surrounding said reduced portion of the seat member forserving as stops to limit the movement of said stop member.

4:. In a ball valve, the combination of a seat member, having a valveopening, a ball for closing said opening, a guide adapted to direct saidball into seating position in said opening, and a spring controlledmovable stop member adapted to prevent said ball from being dislodgedwith respect to said guide member, a cap member carried by an extensionof said seat member having downwardly extending portions for surroundingthe springs engaging the movable stop member whereby to maintain saidsprings in operative position with respect to said stop and to serve forlimiting the upward move ment of said movable stop member.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 17th day of March, 1919.

FRED WITTENMEIER

